Red as Blood
by The First Architect
Summary: "What are you going to do?" James asks her. She pulls off her hood and locks with his eyes. "I'm giving you a head start." Set in 1x16 "Heart of Darkness"


**A/N:** So, OUaT has officially gotten me hooked on the Red Riding Hood/Ruby character. Not only is Meghan Ory super cute, but she pulls off the duality of Red/Ruby so well. And the complete and utter badassery that was Red in "Heart of Darkness" was totally awesome and fic inspiring. Embracing the wolf and taking on the knights was sheer grin-worthy. So that scene really got me in the writing mood. Hench this story. It'll be a multi-chapter thing; I just don't know how many chapters? Possible three? I just don't know. Anyways, enjoy! And tell me what you think.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Once Upon A Time_.

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><p>Red as Blood<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter One:<strong>

_Red Riding Hood_

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><p>"<em>The wolf is neither man's competitor nor his enemy. He is a fellow creature with whom the earth must be shared."<em> - **L. David Mech**

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><p>"Red, watch out!"<p>

James is in front of her in seconds, deflecting a fire arrow that would have met her chest. With a quick gasp Red is on her feet, eyes finding the group of knights at the far end of the forest. Why had she not smelled them? Wind brushes her hair, pulling brunette strands into her face. With a grim frown she understands immediately. The knights are downwind. Her senses are useless.

"We need to move," James' had is on her arm, pulling. "They've found us."

She turns with him and they sprint towards their horse as the knights' yells get louder with each passing second. Red, with a pounding heart, knows what she must do. It's funny, knowing that the wolf is inside her has given her an insane amount of courage as of late. It is a curse, but she'll damn well make it a useful curse.

James swings up onto their horse and offers her his hand. "Come on."

"Go." Red says urgently. "I'll take care of them."

"Red, I'm not leaving you." Blue eyes clouded with worry and urgency look back at her. She figures this is why Snow loves him. He's known her all of a week and he's willing to protect her with every ounce that he is. She wonders if he knows she doesn't need protecting. That she's more than just some little girl.

"Find Snow. That's all that matters." Red takes a step away from the horse, voice firm. "Find her!"

"Wait," James says, worried. "What are you going to do?"

Her chest is heaving with a thumping heart and she glances up to the sky and finds the full moon.

This is a choice that will rule the rest of her life.

She looks back to James and there is a moment of silence as she regards him with a powerful gaze. She pulls off her hood and locks with his eyes. "I'm giving you a head start."

He looks to her, mouth slightly open. Then to the approaching knights. Then he finds her eyes again and there is this fear that slips into his gaze. Not fear for her. But fear of who she is. He knows one, little, girl is no match for the six approaching knights. Yet, there is something in his stare that shows her he believes with every ounce of himself that she can buy him time. She doesn't think he knows exactly who—_what_—she is, but she figures he has an idea that she's more than just a woman.

To prove her point he thrusts his heals into his horse. The animal turns and jumps forward towards the trees.

Red takes a deep breath and watches James' retreat into the forest. She unties the cloak at her neck and lets the cape fall to the snow covered ground.

The effect is instantaneous.

Her vision turns sharp, colors and smells dancing in the night. Her ears pick up the sound of the knights heartbeats and the pumping of blood through their steeds' veins.

She turns towards the approaching group and sprints forward. The actual change lasts a split second. A split second of intense, mind overriding pain. Her joints collapse. Her bones break, then reform, stronger and larger than before. Her teeth grow. She feels them press against the insides of her lips before her mouth has a chance to morph.

And then she is very aware of the muscles in her four legs pushing off the ground, like her body weighs nothing. She is sailing through the air, paws outstretched, claws unhinged.

She lunges for the middle knight, a man with a horrible blond mustache, in hopes she'll scatter the unit. Her plan works, more or less. She lands on the middle knight and knocks him off his horse. The others can't rein in their terrified stallions and are either pitched to the ground or sent backwards, trapped on their mounts.

Her claws meet the flesh of the blond knights face and he screams. There is a split second where all she can see is red and there is a snarling in her head—_kill him kill him kill him!_ And she almost does. But Snow's voice stops her. Sharp and crisp—_Red!_—Is all she needs in order to reign in the wolf. Her teeth hover above his neck, she even feels a tooth clip the skin.

Something solid slams in her middle and she is flung off her paws, skidding in the snow. Her chest shudders painfully, head swimming and she feel like she's just been run over by a carriage full of gold. A second look tells her one of the men has rammed his frightened horse into her, the animal protecting itself with rearing hooves.

Red gets to her paws, ignores the searing pain in her side and swipes at the knight on the horse. She catches his chest and he flies from his saddle, landing in a heap feet away, unmoving.

An arrow catches her in the shoulder and she lets out a scream. Well, it sounds like a perfectly normal scream in her head. But what exits her mouth is a wild and frenzied roar of pain and anger. She turns sharply to the knight who's shot her and jumps on him, crushing his chest with the weight of her two front paws. A blade slides across her right hind leg and she drops to her knee. With a roar she whirls on the knight and swipes at him with her paw. He jumps back, only to shoot forward and wrench the arrow from her shoulder. Red snarls and paws blindly at him, head too overloaded with pain to register where he is.

It's funny how she was in complete control of the situation a minute ago. But one can only fair so long when it's six—five?—maybe four?—on one. She gets her paws under her, ready to charge, but the mustached knight from early is on her back, thrusting a knife into the muscle of her shoulder.

She arches towards the moon, mouth open with a scream that is caught in her throat. Slowly, she feels the drive and power of the wolf leave her. It is an odd sensation, being completely drained of energy from head to toe and her knees buckle from weakness. As she shifts, and her neck becomes more human, the knights arm slides around her flesh.

"A silver knife," he whispers in her ear and his voice makes her want to vomit. "It's said to be the wolf's only weakness, witch. It drains your power like poison."

She pulls away from him with a pathetic snarl, but he tightens his grip around her throat and twists the knife slightly in her back. She nearly looses consciousness right then and there, but the knight shakes her violently to keep her stable.

"Where is Snow White?" He grinds out. "If you tell me now I'll spare you from further pain."

She glares at him from the corners of her eyes and tightens her jaw.

He lets a beat pass, searching her defiant eyes for an answer. When she doesn't give it to him he rips the knife from her back and pushes her to the ground. "Stubborn woman!"

The cold snow is comforting against her burning cheek. But she knows she needs to get away. She needs to run and help James find Snow. But her limbs aren't responding. There is an ocean raging in her head, waves crashing against her mind. Weakness seeps into her limbs. Into her bones.

"What are we going to do with her?" A voice above her asks.

A foot finds her middle and she's rolled over with the steel toe of a boot. It's strange, looking up at the full moon and not changing. She's never really looked at the moon before. _Really_ looked. It's a beautiful sight.

The boot is on her cheek now, pressing slightly. Her eyes dart to the blond knight whose lips are turned down in a heavy frown. She smiles slightly at the sight that is the left side of his face. Her claw marks run from scalp to lips, his left eye forced close from the wound. "Bring her back to the Queen," is his answer. He regards her for a couple moments, dark eyes crawling over every inch of her. "If she can make it to the castle, I believe the Queen will have some use for the wolf. If not, she'd serve just fine as a trophy in the dungeons."

Hands are under her shoulders and she's being lifted. The simple movement makes her vision swim and a whimper claw up her throat.

"Sir, what about the others?" Another knight asks as she's dragged away. There's an itch running through her skin. Her mind wants to change to the wolf; the pull of the full moon makes her vision flip from wolf-sharp to human. But the silver from the knife has penetrated her skin and is blocking the magic that allows her the wolf.

"They'll turn soon. Her bite is poisonous." The mustached knight regards his two fallen comrades. "Kill them."

Unsheathed swords ring through the still night air.

As Red's eyes fade her, she catches the dark red streaks of blood in the snow as blackness eats away at the corners of her vision.

Seconds later she welcomes the darkness.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thoughts? This is super rough and I might re-write/add some things when I've had some sleep. But Red/Ruby from this show has just gotten me so hooked! And if any of y'all know, I love showing the complete and utter loyalty of characters to one another. So this Red is loyal to the core, no matter what she comes up against. And this was written in a short period of time late at night/early in the morning, so any mistakes are my own. Sorry! Anyways, until next time!


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